As you will know from attending the GPs in Kilmacud Medical Centre, we strive hard to keep our antibiotic prescribing to a minimum. Current evidence suggest that there is no point in prescribing antibiotics for simple coughs, colds, sore throats and flu like illness. We are facing a  huge increase in antibiotic resistance in the world today largely due to inappropriate use of antibiotics. Restricting antibiotic use to a limited number of serious infections can reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Scientists however are fighting back in the battle against antibiotic resistance and news emerged today that modifications to an old antibiotic called Vancomycin has proved very successful. The drug is now considerably stronger than it was and is now active against many bugs which previously were resistant to it. Scientists conclude that it may be possible to make similar changes to other older drugs which have recently proved ineffective against resistant strains of bacteria. Click here for more information on this topic.